- Coltan is a heat resistant ore used in cell phones, laptops, and game systems. - Coltan is mainly used in the touch screens. - Over 525 tons of coltan were used in the U.S. in 1998.- 15.3 million cell phones have been sold in California alone. The large quantity of cell phones has led to environmental issues when trying to recycle the ones that are no longer used.- The large demand for coltan has caused its value in the market to skyrocket even though mining costs are low. - The coltan mineral is extracted from the Congo but is refined and put in to mass production in eastern Asian countries such as China and India. Apple: Although Apple is known for its global mass production, the company is efficient in reusing coltan as well as using the mineral as little as possible. Many Apple products tend to use different components for the device`s touch screen and vibrating abilities or simply using coltan from different areas on the globe.

Lenovo: Lenovo can be described to be moderately efficient in the use of coltan. Although some coltan is recycled, most of the minerals used in Lenovo devices are mined and directly manufactured from the Congo. However, this company has made recent strides to look for non-conflict minerals, although such a task seems daunting.

HTC: HTC is one of the most least efficient electronics companies in terms of reusing coltan. Nearly none of the collected phones which are garnered by the company are reused for coltan neither has the company made any effort to locate non-conflict minerals.

Canon: Canon is also considered to be very inefficient in terms of reusing coltan. Although the production of cameras does not require the use of coltan as much as cell phone production, Canon still manages to use up a large percentage of the Congo`s coltan mines. Like most companies, Canon has not even considered the possibility of slightly more expensive non-conflict minerals.